Lausanne Leaders PDF Print E-mail
The Lausanne Committee is blessed to have capable leadership drawn from around the globe. The movement is led principally by an Executive Chairman and an International Director, assisted by eleven International Deputy Directors.

 Executive Chairman

Doug BirdsallDoug Birdsall was installed as the Lausanne Chairman in 2004 at the Forum on World Evangelization in Pattaya, Thailand. Doug and his wife Jeanie have been missionaries with Asian Access since 1980, where Doug was president of the mission from 1991 to 2007.  He is a graduate of Wheaton College, Gordon-Conwell Seminary and Harvard University and is currently involved in doctoral research at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.
 
Birdsall’s involvement with Lausanne began in 1987 when he participated in the first Lausanne Younger Leaders conference in Singapore. Two years later, he served as the assistant to the Director for Lausanne II in Manila. “Those early experiences with Lausanne,” says Birdsall, “served to broaden my horizons and deepen my understanding of the challenges and opportunities before the Church. My deep commitment to the revitalization of the Lausanne Movement springs from my sense of indebtedness to Lausanne for connecting me to a global network of men and women who share a passion for the vision of ‘the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world.’”

 International Director

Lindsay Brown was appointed International Director in 2006. A native of Wales, Brown served with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) for twenty-five years, fifteen of them as International General Secretary. Lindsay was followed as IFES General Secretary by Daniel Bourdanné, Lausanne International Deputy Director for Francophone Africa.

Brown began his journey in missions on board Operation Mobilization’s MV Logos ship in Africa. He says his voyage to eighteen countries “gave me exposure to the wider world and fired my passion for mission.” After returning from Africa, Brown served with the IFES-related student ministry in Wales and was also involved with the Welsh Lausanne Committee.

In 1981, Brown and his wife moved to Paris where they studied together at Vaux-sur-Seine Theological Seminary under the tutelage of Henri Blocher, then chairman of the French Lausanne Committee. Following his studies, Brown was appointed European Regional Secretary for IFES, coordinating student ministry across the continent. He became International General Secretary in 1991.

Brown’s tenure was a time of tremendous expansion for IFES. The organization extended its ministry from one hundred countries to 150. Their budget grew from $1.3 million to $5.9 million. In 1991, 275,000 students were linked with IFES; today the number is 400,000.

Lausanne has been enriched by its partnership with IFES since 1974. A number of key Lausanne leaders were shaped by its ministry: John Stott, Chua Wee Hian, Samuel Escobar, René Padilla and Gottfried Osei-Mensah to name a few. The Programme Director for Lausanne III, Ramez Atallah, was previously IFES’s Regional Secretary in the Middle East. Brown’s role as Lausanne International Director will further strengthen the relationship between the two movements.

Birdsall says Brown is “trusted and respected around the world as a servant leader and as a man of exceptional vision. Lindsay brings energy and passion along with a depth of understanding of the world scene like few people in the world today. We are delighted to have him as the new International Director for the Lausanne Movement.

 Managing Director

David JonesDavid Jones was appointed as Managing Director of Lausanne in 2007.  In addition to general leadership responsibilities, his role includes Cape Town 2010 Participant Selection Director and Cape Town 2010 Fundraising Director.

After serving in senior posts in politics and business, Jones joined Scripture Union in 1988, serving as President of this Bible study and children’s ministry for nearly ten years, and participating in its Americas Regional and International Councils. He helped launch John Stott Ministries (JSM) in 1997, serving as its first President and helping to develop the Langham Partnership International; his interest in the Lausanne Movement grew through his ongoing interaction with Lausanne’s Honorary Chairman, John Stott.

Doug Birdsall, Executive Chairman of the Lausanne Movement, says Jones “brings a depth of understanding to the on-going work of the Lausanne Movement.  Through his experience with John Stott, he has met gifted leaders from every section of the globe and has experienced first-hand the theological and strategic issues in world evangelization.”

David and his wife, Debby, live in Austria where he serves as the Executive Director of the Schloss Mittersill Conference Centre.  They have five children: a son and daughter-in-law serving on staff at St. Andrews, Oxford; a married son pursuing a PhD degree at Ball State University; and a daughter at Calvin College. 

 International Deputy Directors

Drawn from the major geo-political regions, the International Deputy Directors assist the Committee in coordinating Lausanne activities in their respective areas of the world. They nurture existing Lausanne relationships and seek out new partnerships with ministries, organizations and networks that embrace the Lausanne Covenant.
North Africa and Middle East:  
Andrea Zaki, Director of the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services.
Anglophone Africa:
Gideon Para-Mallam, Associate Regional Secretary for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.
Francophone Africa:
Kadebe Daniel Bourdanne, General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.
East Asia:
Hyung Keun (Paul) Choi, Professor of Mission Studies at Seoul Theological University. Ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Holiness Church.
North Asia:
Morley Lee, General Secretary Chinese Coordination Centre of World Evangelism.
South Asia:
Adrian de Visser, Founder of the Kithu Sevana (“Shadow of Christ”) church movement in Sri Lanka, and Vice President for Partnership Development for Asian Access.
Australia/Oceania:
Daniel Willis, CEO of Bible Society NSW, National Secretary of Bible Society in Australia and Executive Officer for Bible Society Western Australia.
Caribbean:
Las Newman, Associate General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.
Europe:
Gordon Showell-Rogers, General Secretary of the European Evangelical Alliance
Latin America:
Norberto Saracco, President of International Faculty of Theological Education. He holds a Ph.D. from University of Birmingham, England and is author of The Pentecostal/Catholic Dialogue: A Latin American Perspective.
North America:
Jim Tebbe, Urbana Director, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.
 
 
 
By Judd Birdsall and Naomi Frizzell